Parking is key to downtown Orlando's future

When my son and I have a guys' night out, we like to watch things blow up.

Big things. Like cars. And buildings. And planets. All Hollywood-style, of course.

So one recent Saturday night, we decided to sate our manly urges by going to see a movie in downtown Orlando.

It was a mistake. Not the guy time, mind you. Our mistake was thinking we could just pop in and out of downtown.

I knew that when my son yelled, "Thirty-five minutes, Dad!"

That was how long we'd been our car, trying to leave the Plaza parking garage. The line of cars was backed up five stories, all waiting more than a half-hour for the privilege of paying for parking.

We could have driven to Seminole Towne Center in Sanford — and parked for free — in less time than it took just to get out of the parking garage.

This is the problem downtown Orlando faces. People are going elsewhere because it's simpler, cheaper and faster.

Why drive around hunting for a spot that costs $10 and is three blocks from your dinner when you can head to Winter Park Village, park 20 yards from dinner and have a movie theater next door?

That said, I want downtown to succeed. Great cities have thriving ones — must-taste restaurants, unique shops, nightclubs with vibrant music scenes and a melting pot of personalities.

But for Orlando to get there, it's going to have to get the basics right first.

Right now, Orlando is talking about creating a "Destination Downtown" by allowing bars to stay open an extra hour and crank up the music louder.

Frankly, I'm not sure that providing an extra hour to swill beer is the key to making Orlando a must-visit locale. But it won't matter what kind of plans Orlando hatches if the city can't make parking easier.

That's a message Orlando City council member Patty Sheehan has been preaching for years.

"Parking downtown has always driven me crazy," she said. "It seems like all we do is chase people away."

Sheehan says the city doesn't have enough spots for bikes and mopeds. She thinks the signage stinks, that parking officers are too aggressive and that the infamous Plaza garage — part of a taxpayer-subsidized project — is " horrendous," "absurd" and "not user-friendly."

Plus, she hears constant complaints of visitors being asked to pay "event rate" parking of $10 and more for regular nights out. "We should be directing people," she said, "not scalping them."

City Hall says it understands all this; that master-planning is underway with better signs, transit options and even mobile-phone apps.

But the city also leans on the notion that visitors should just better learn their way around downtown.

Perhaps. But inviting downtowns don't force patrons to do homework.

And I wince when the city cavalierly responds to complaints by noting that there are 7,500 spaces "within a 10-minute walk."

A 10-minute walk for whom? Me? Or a 70-year-old arts patron? (Don't forget: These issues will be compounded when the performing arts center opens.) Also, do people know where all these spots are?